The last time Ward ‘n Jerry ran 1 1/2 miles, the 7-year-old gelding came up a neck short in the Grade II Hollywood Turf Cup on Dec. 1 at Del Mar.
Dropping into a Grade III stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, the $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes, Ward ‘N Jerry was too much for his six rivals, running away to a 1 1/4 length victory as the 9-5 second choice with Flavien Prat in the saddle.
Ward ‘n Jerry, a California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit, was third after the first mile, moved into second with a quarter of a mile to run and outran Camino Del Paraiso to the wire, running the marathon distance over a turf course labeled “good” in 2:28.67.
It was Ward ‘n Jerry’s sixth victory in 20 starts, with four of the wins coming at Santa Anita. The winning check for $60,000 raised his career earnings to $373,579.
“If you look at his form, you can see that he’s done his best at long distances,” winning trainer Mike Puype said. “He had won at a mile and a quarter and a mile and three eighths, and he ran a really good third going a mile and a half (Hollywood Turf Cup). They came home pretty fast today, they put a couple of 24-second quarters together there, so this was a big effort.”
It was the third time Prat, the meet’s leading jockey, has ridden Ward n’ Jerry, but the first time since June 2016 when he was still a maiden running in state-bred races. Saturday’s victory was only his second graded stakes try.
“I hadn’t been on him in a long time and Mike told me that he’s best at these long distances,” Prat said. “He was a little keen early, but he settled down fine and, as you saw, he had a good turn of foot through the stretch.”
Camino Del Paraiso, the 6-1 third choice, held second by 1 1/4 lengths over Oscar Dominguez, the even-money favorite.
The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams, had to watch off the premises as Santa Anita is closed to the public with the exception of jockeys, trainers, the trainers’ staffs and essential track personnel.
Cistron pulls upsetThe John Sadler-trained Cistron, ridden by Victor Espinoza, rallied from third in the seven-horse field to upset 1-2 favorite Bound for Nowhere in the $100,000 Grade III San Simeon Stakes.
Cistron, idle since winning the Grade I Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 27, ran the 5 1/2 furlongs over a “good” turf course in 1:02.68 while winning for the sixth time in 28 races. It was only his second victory in 14 tries over the Santa Anita lawn.
Cistron usually goes to the front and plays catch me if you can, but Espinoza employed different tactics Saturday.
“He broke sharp, but when that mare (Surrender Now) outside of me went so fast, I thought I didn’t want to empty the tank too early,” he said. “I gambled a little bit and it worked out great.”
